Monday, July 22, 2013

Not too much going on now...

...in boat land that is.

We accepted an offer on our home Friday and had the inspection today. These folks appear to be serious. Have 3 small things to fix, then hopefully, a signed contract. Can't rush these things. You can say Tom and I have been a bit busy with even more business on the horizon.

Came to several boat decisions last week:

Accent stripe and boot color. As I mentioned, the bow on this boat is quite imposing. We decided to create a nice visual by adding an accent stripe just below the capstrip. The accent stripe will be Awlgrip Forest Green and the boot stripe will be Seahawk Blue. That's it, blue. No special words to describe this color, just blue (Seahawk is the paint manufacturer). Thank goodness for this manufacturer's simplicity of only offering 5 basic colors. If you're really curious about what these colors look like, you can go to the websites. Awlgrip has a nice color chip chart while Seahawk just lists its colors down the side of the page. The captain and I have always been partial to shades of blue and green on our boats. Brings the outside in without getting wet.

Central vac system. Luckily a new 52 owner took time to answer my very long list of questions, central vac vs. canister among them. She is like us, 3 boats in under 5 years. She has had central vac in all 3 of her boats and wouldn't consider doing without. So, we're putting in a system by Intervac, specially designed for boats and RVs. This system will be flush mounted in the machinery space so we don't have to look at it. Though I'll have to go into the engine room to empty the bag, I don't plan to vacuum enough to make that an issue. Besides, it's good to visit one's engine room with regularity, so I've been told. The inlet will be centrally placed in the companionway leading to the staterooms to easily access the main floor and pilothouse. I've been researching a retractable hose that coils up neatly into a mesh bag when not in use. It's pricey, so more reading is needed.

Sink and faucets. Things got so crazy in this department that the captain told me in no uncertain terms that he would delete without reading any emails making ANY reference to a sink or a faucet. Tom Button is the most amazing man. I've said this before and know I will be saying it again. The man didn't flinch while I went on about corners, mountings, drain location, finish, etc. To make things worse, I decided on different faucets than the ones KKY uses. Same manufacturer because it's one of the best, but different styles. I don't exaggerate when I say that I looked at websites and faucets for 3 days! Drove myself nuts, that's how bad it got. Though there are only 3 main faucet manufacturers that I had an interest in, they each make dozens of faucet styles. Despite the fact that I had pretty much decided on Grohe (we have this one at home and have been very happy with it), I of course had to be sure I wasn't missing something. So, I spent the next 2 lunch breaks poring over the Delta and Moen websites. Nice faucets, but I was hung up on Grohe. So another lunch break later, I narrowed my choice for the galley faucet down to a style called Ladylux Cafe (model # 33755 SDO). This faucet features a high, arched neck with a pull-down sprayer and a single lever. Very neat and clean and only 1 hole in the granite. The high neck is essential for those huge pots of water for pasta I mentioned earlier. The finish is some sort of stainless that will match the appliances. The head faucets will be similar, of course scaled down since I won't be filling pasta pots in the head. My selection for the head faucets is Allure Single Lever Basin Mixer, again very simple and elegant.
The sink was a maddening choice, I have no idea why. We finally selected Elkay model number ELUH2317EK (KKY uses this one on their boats). It's an undermount, has rounded corners, is 10" deep and has the drain off center to the left. It's a sink, says the captain when I told him my great accomplishment. The patient Tom Button will have my selections placed on a drawing. If I can find a way to scan the drawing so it's legible, I'll be happy to share. If not, you'll have to wait for pictures of the real thing.

While I'm prattling on about sinks and faucets, Tom, Tom Button and the electronics people are having really meaningful discussions. Since I can't lend too much in this department, I'll focus on my strengths and keep my lack of knowledge about all things Garmin to myself. Yes, we are going with Garmin again. We absolutely loved the system we had on Serenity. It worked beautifully, did the job without confusion and never failed us. With the exception of a few more bells and whistles and bigger display screens tilt mounted, we're pretty much duplicating Serenity. The electronics folks had the chance to come aboard Serenity during our last visit in June and were able to see exactly what we had so we're not starting from a blank slate.

Please forgive the lack of pictures. I just looked over what I've written and don't know if I'd be inclined to wade through all these words without some comic relief from a picture. If I had a different lifestyle and was home for more than 2 hours between the end of my day and bedtime, I could probably have uploaded some pictures from the website. Alas and alack, that is not to be!

When we finally get to the pictures, just think of how sweet it will be. Right now, I'd be thrilled with any pictures at all! Tom Button promises some early pictures of KK55-005 in its fetal stages, in the mold. I understand that's not too far off.

If you are the good followers I know you are, Tom and I would appreciate some name suggestions. I've been asked to write a little piece for a KKY newsletter about the genesis of the name once we've selected one. I want to make it a fun to read and interesting story, so please send me your suggestions. I'd like to offer a prize but am too consumed with house and boat thoughts to think that one through.

I'll be back hopefully with the drawings of what I've selected so far. You do notice I've been saying "I" all along right? When we get to the electronics, the references will be "he" and "him". Until then, happy reading and thanks for taking this amazing trip with us.

About Me

I'm an energetic, life-embracing person who loves to be with similar people. Though I lost my beloved husband of 42 years on September 17, 2013, I remain committed to living every second of life with gusto. Entertaining friends and sharing what I have with others continues to give me great pleasure. To sum up me and my philosophy on life is simply, Carpe Diem! When my grandson, Tucker entered the world on May 15th, 2011, he immediately became the joy of my life. I spend as much time as possible with him and am so enjoying watching him grow and develop. Right now I am very much involved with the building of my new boat (it is the boat of Tom's dreams), a Kadey Krogen 55 Expedition. Anticipated delivery date after commissioning is January 2015, a perfect start to a new year! Life is good even after tragedy.